I plan to eat at a local Viet restaurant: spring rolls, pho, and
for dessert, crème caramel (or fried banana if they don't have
crème caramel) and hot vietnamese coffee.

It's been three weeks since my wife left to go most of the way
across the continent to be by her father's bedside and then after
he passed away, arranging with her sisters to deal with the
succession.

She arrives tomorrow at 14h10.

--

The Bible! Because all the works of science cannot equal the
wisdom of cattle-sacrificing primitives who thought every
animal species in the world lived within walking distance of
Noah's house.

On 01/04/2011 2:10 PM, Michel Boucher wrote:
> I plan to eat at a local Viet restaurant: spring rolls, pho, and
> for dessert, crème caramel (or fried banana if they don't have
> crème caramel) and hot vietnamese coffee.
>


That sounds like a good way to spend the last night of a temporary
bachelorhood.



> It's been three weeks since my wife left to go most of the way
> across the continent to be by her father's bedside and then after
> he passed away, arranging with her sisters to deal with the
> succession.

Sorry to hear about the death of your father in law. I hope that they
iron out the details without anyone causing a rift. I have seen too many
families torn about in petty squabbles. It's a damned shame.

My mother in law lingered for a bit... cancer. My wife took a week off
work to be by her bedside, quite certain that each minute might be her
last. Her father was a different matter. He had been in pretty good
health for someone nearing his 95th birthday. He died peacefully in his
sleep. My wife, SiL and BiL settled things with commendable style. FiL
had cut the son out of his will after a spat but later cut him back in
for 20% while the girls got 40% each. They were the executrixes of the
estate, and they split it evenly because they did not want him to be
upset with them and to have to deal with the fallout, and besides, they
thought it was the right thing to do.

Most important.... spouses have to keep their noses out.

Dave Smith > wrote in
om:

> On 01/04/2011 2:10 PM, Michel Boucher wrote:
> Sorry to hear about the death of your father in law. I hope
> that they iron out the details without anyone causing a rift.
> I have seen too many families torn about in petty squabbles.
> It's a damned shame.

It seems to be going well. I have not heard of disagreements.

When my mother passed away, we had already disposed of her
earthly goods so they would not be included in the probate. This
was after it was clear she was going to be in a hospice for the
rest of her life.

My sister and I took items by agreement, and not much at that.
The day to day dishes and cutlery were parcelled off to my son
who was leaving for university, each of us, child and grandchild,
got one item or moderate value, and some of the furniture went to
my sister as she had a house. In the end, we ended up with
pretty much the same thing (teak dining tables and chairs) when
my wife's aunt moved into an assisted living facility about a
year ago.

The suggestion for division of property came from a auctioneer
who came to survey my mother's stuff. He said to make sure that
objects we chose had roughly the same value and that would avoid
recriminations later on. Following that, we took what we wanted
and other things we agreed on (I got the report of the Rowell-
Sirois Royal Commission on Fed-Prov relations and some numbered
and signed art books, my sister got the silverware etc.) and the
rest garnered us a tidy sum at auction, which is exactly what we
expected we would get.

> Most important.... spouses have to keep their noses out.

That was also my suggestion. Myself and another BiL have stayed
out of it to the point of not going. My cracked coccyx certainly
made the travel a daunting idea, but also, who would care for the
cats and little Maya, aka Pipsqueak.

--

The Bible! Because all the works of science cannot equal the
wisdom of cattle-sacrificing primitives who thought every
animal species in the world lived within walking distance of
Noah's house.